The foundation explained in less than one minute

We’re a group of passionate and innovative problem-solvers that want to educate the next generation of philanthropists and distribute capital to local communities in need.

Meet Our Team

Board of Directors

Alex Rozek —President, Chairman of the Board

Alexander Buffett Rozek serves the Foundation as its President and is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Letters Foundation. Learning by Giving and the Letters Foundation are both cornerstones of Doris Buffett's philanthropy, which in aggregate has distributed more than $150 million in grants since 1996.

Prior to his current role, Alex was the Director for the Learning By Giving Program when it began as part of the Sunshine Lady Foundation in 2003 and oversaw the growth of the program from its first school to the current 30 colleges and universities. Alex has also worked on a number of other projects for the Sunshine Lady Foundation, including working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and New England Eye to start the Boston Senior Oral and Vision Health Program. Alex has also worked with the Red Sox Foundation to support their Red Sox Scholars program.

In his day job, Alex manages an investment partnership in Boston where he lives with wife Mimi and their super smart dog, Mac.

Alex graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Chemistry.

Alex Rozek

Mimi Rozek —Treasurer & Secretary

Mimi serves on the Board of Directors of the Learning by Giving Foundation and is also acting Treasurer and Secretary.

Mimi’s background is in nonprofit fundraising; since 2004 she has worked for a New York based marketing firm that specializes in direct marketing for the nonprofit sector.

Mimi graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College where she was the captain of the tennis team. She lives in Boston with her husband Alex and their Australian Shepherds Mac & Leia.

Mimi Rozek

Doris Buffett —Director

At 89 years young, Doris, big sister of billionaire Warren, is on a mission. When she inherited Berkshire Hathaway stock from a family trust in 1996, she dedicated the rest of her life to giving it away—all of it—mostly to individuals in trouble through no fault of their own. So far she’s given away more than $150 million of her money. She says she wants to give it all away; that she wants the last check she writes to bounce due to “insufficient funds.”

She began the Sunshine Lady Foundation in 1996, helping battered women, sick children, and at-risk kids who otherwise would never have had the chance to go to college. She’s also funding college programs for prison inmates, lowering recidivism. And she does it through “retail philanthropy,” often making personal phone calls to those who need help, one by one.

Doris is passionate about her responsibilities as a philanthropist. She is personally and tirelessly involved with every aspect of the foundation’s grantmaking process. Each Sunshine Lady Foundation grant is considered an investment, and the decision to grant funds is always based on an expected successful return.

Doris’ energy and enthusiasm are boundless. Among her many other roles, she has been a first grade teacher, domestic violence crusader, political activist, mother and grandmother, and a true and loyal friend to many people.

Doris Buffett

Howard W. Buffett —Director

Howard W. Buffett is the Executive Director of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation that funds initiatives aimed at improving the standard of living and quality of life for the world’s most impoverished and marginalized populations.

Howard previously served as the Director for Agriculture Development at the U.S. Department of Defense, where he was responsible for overseeing agricultural reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prior to serving at the Defense Department, Howard was a Policy Advisor for the White House Domestic Policy Council, where he implemented cross-sector collaboration and innovation strategies. Prior to serving in the White House, Howard was a Special Assistant in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he developed the expansion strategy for the nation’s Cooperative Extension System. He also served as a member of the Obama-Biden Transition Team and as Director of National Surrogate Radio for Obama for America.

Before entering government service, Howard worked for a variety of organizations, including the United Nations and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He is a board member at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and is a World Economic Forum, Global Shaper. Named a top 99 foreign policy leader under 33, Howard has earned a BA from Northwestern University and an MPA in Advanced Management and Finance from Columbia University. He is a native of Omaha, Nebraska, where he operates a four hundred acre no-till farm.

Of his more high profile achievements, Howard was the President of FFA (Future Farmers of America) in highschool, an experience which gave him the tools necessary to become a champion soil judger in subsequent years.

Howard W. Buffett

Maggie Johnson —Director

Maggie Johnson is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Stanford University, and Director of Education and University Relations for Google.

Nora Silver, PhD

Nora Silver PhD is Adjunct Professor, Founder and Faculty Director of the Center for Social Sector Leadership at UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business. She teaches classes on social sector strategy and on social movements. She is a 2016 Aspen Pioneer Faculty Award winner. Prior to joining academia, Nora she was a founder/executive director of three social sector organizations and a consultant to business, education, foundations, government, and nonprofit organizations. She is the author of two books on volunteer engagement plus articles on social impact networks, diversity, and next generation social sector leadership. Nora previously taught Berkeley’s Strategic Philanthropy course and oversees its teaching now. She was delighted to join the Learning by Giving Foundation in summer 2016.

Nora Silver, PhD

Executive Team

Amy Kingman —Executive Director

Amy joined the team as Executive Director in December of 2016. Amy has over 10 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, specifically in fundraising, marketing, nonprofit management, and strategic planning. Amy first learned of the Learning by Giving Foundation when an organization she was working for received a grant from the first-ever Learning by Giving class at Simmons College. She was incredibly impressed by both the passion of the students and the class curriculum, and has followed the progress of the Foundation ever since.

Amy holds a BSW from Skidmore College and a MSW with a concentration in nonprofit management from the University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated summa cum laude. She originally hails from Maine and now lives on the north shore of MA with her husband and her spunky dog, Scout.

Amy Kingman

Tevis Spezia —Director of Systems & Growth

Tevis has joined the team as Director of Systems & Growth for the Learning by Giving Foundation. He is a results driven leader with over 7 years of experience helping organizations solve some of their toughest business and technology challenges across the high tech, philanthropy and education sectors. This experience includes expanding the learning and development programs across Google, launching an online course at The Learning by Giving Foundation in partnership with the Social Impact Lab at Northeastern University and starting up the Letters Foundation, a charitable foundation funded by Warren and Doris Buffett that exists to provide financial assistance to individuals and families in need.

Tevis Spezia

Shanna O'Berry —Director of Academic Programs

Shanna has worked in academia for ten years taking on myriad roles: teaching assistant, adjunct faculty, department administrator, and assistant dean. She is excited to bring her passion for higher education to her role at Learning by Giving Foundation and to support faculty in new ways.

Shanna holds a BA in English from Michigan State University and an MA in English from University of Massachusetts Boston. She is learning to enjoy the Atlantic ocean but the Great Lakes still have her heart.

Shanna O'Berry

Academic Advisory Committee

David Campbell —Faculty

DAVID CAMPBELL is Associate Professor in the Department of Public Administration at Binghamton University. He established the Philanthropy Incubator there in 2008 and taught his first experiential philanthropy course in 2009. Since then, his undergraduate and graduate students have given away over $150,000 to Binghamton area nonprofit organizations. He has also taught experiential philanthropy courses at Koç University, in Istanbul, Turkey. He has written about experiential philanthropy for the Journal of Public Affairs Education (the article is available here). He also teaches undergraduate courses in civic engagement and graduate courses in nonprofit management. His current research focuses on performance measurement and social media use in the nonprofit sector, as well as the role of philanthropy in Turkey. He has published his research in a wide range of public administration journals including Public Administration Review, Nonprofit Management and Leadership (where he serves on the editorial board), Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly and The American Review of Public Administration. He holds a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University, a master's degree from Yale University and an undergraduate degree is from Bates College.

David Campbell

Rebecca Ricio —Faculty

REBECCA RICCIO is the founding Director of the Social Impact Lab (SIL) at Northeastern University, an experiential learning hub that prepares students for lives of citizen-leadership and social change through systems thinking, complex problem solving, and ethical community engagement. Throughout her career, Rebecca has developed and managed cutting edge projects around the world, including the first federally funded teacher training program in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin Wall; satellite-based email networks connecting health facilities in Africa and Asia before commercial options became viable; and the world’s first massive open on-line course (MOOC) on experiential philanthropy in partnership with the Learning by Giving Foundation, where she also serves on the Faculty Advisory Committee. Rebecca continues to break new ground by researching and developing experiential learning methods that challenge students to grapple with the complexity and ethical implications of engaging in social change using techniques such as network and systems visualization, real-dollar grant making, and community-based service-learning. She is a leader in the growing use of experiential philanthropy education to illuminate the study of the nonprofit sector, civil society, and social justice by having students confront the power and privilege of managing scarce resources in the face of abundant need. The model she developed at Northeastern, Northeastern Students4Giving, is now being adapted in countries around the world through SIL’s Global Philanthropy Initiative. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, and social change at Northeastern University and has lectured on philanthropy, social justice, and policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Rebecca holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.A. from the University of Michigan.

Rebecca Ricio

Martin Buinicki —Faculty

MARTIN T. BUINICKI is the Walter G. Friedrich Professor of American Literature at Valparaiso University, and he has worked with the Learning by Giving Foundation since 2009. During that time, students in his course Traditions of Giving and Serving in American Life have awarded $72,500 in grants to nonprofits in northwest Indiana. Working with Dr. Elizabeth Lynn, Professor Buinicki helped establish a minor in Philanthropic Leadership and Service at Valparaiso University, and his course is now required for students pursuing the minor.

Professor Buinicki is the author of Negotiating Copyright: Authorship and the Discourse of Literary Property Rights in Nineteenth-Century America and Walt Whitman’s Reconstruction: Poetry and Publishing between Memory and History. He has published essays in a number of books and journals, including the Cambridge History of American Civil War Literature, American Literary History, American Literary Realism, the Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, and The Journal of Popular Culture. His current project, Charitable Readings: Representations of Philanthropy in Early American Literature, was inspired by the works he teaches in his Learning by Giving course.

Martin Buinicki

Ira Silver —Faculty

IRA SILVER is Professor of Sociology at Framingham State University, where he has taught since 2002. He received his BA summa cum laude from Amherst College and his Masters and Ph.D. in sociology from Northwestern University.

Ira teaches a wide array of courses including: Social Inequality; Animals & Society; Death & Dying; Social Problems; and Society, Technology, & the Future. He also teaches Nonprofit Giving, an experiential philanthropy course supported by the Learning by Giving Foundation.

Ira Silver

Lora Warner —Faculty

LORA WARNER is an Associate Professor of Public and Environmental Affairs and Director of the Center for Public Affairs at UW-Green Bay. Dr. Warner teaches in the Public Administration program and leads the Nonprofit Management Certificate. Her work with students includes supervision of internships and service learning projects in numerous public and nonprofit organizations in the area. Dr. Warner teaches courses in program evaluation, nonprofit management, philanthropy, fundraising and marketing, planning and evaluation of wellness programs, and public policy (among others). Dr. Warner has led a number of community wide studies to evaluate quality of life and assess community needs. For almost 25 years, Dr. Warner has consulted with a wide array of public service organizations throughout Wisconsin, including the State of Wisconsin, Brown County, nonprofit organizations, various United Way affiliates, and community foundations. She serves on the national Faculty Advisory Council of the Learning by Giving Foundation and the board of directors of Scholarships, Inc. as chairperson of the NEW Scholars leadership team, a program that prepares underrepresented middle and high-school students for college.

Lora Warner

Dogs

Mac —A Moo

Mac is the official dog of the Learning by Giving Foundation and is responsible for all frisbee and tennis ball catching. In his free time, Mac enjoys herding anything that moves, especially, people.

Mac

Leia —Ms Sassy Pants

Leia joined the team in December 2014 and brings a ferocious appetite for nipping at all our heels...keeping the Foundation moving at top speed!

Leia

Scout —Scholar in Residence

Scout is more of an "ideas" dog - focusing on higher level projects like the most efficient way to chase a ball, longitudinal food retrieval studies, and organizing office dance parties.

Scout

Dozer

Slinky —Dog Coordinator

Slinky Dog is Mac and Leia's third-oldest pup. He loves playing with his 8 siblings and closest friends, Dozer and Scout.

Slinky

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Frequently Asked Questions

We’d love to hear from you! Check below to see if your questions are answered, and if not, please drop us a line.

What does the Learning by Giving Foundation fund?

The Learning by Giving Foundation only funds undergraduate courses at colleges and universities across the country that offer high quality experiential for-credit courses in philanthropy i.e., those that combine the study of theory with the practice of philanthropy.

Can my college or university become a Learning by Giving partner school?

We are very interested in welcoming new partner schools and expanding the Learning by Giving family. We currently have a waiting list of potential new partners. We work directly with professors when adding a new partner school. If you are a professor, please send us a message about your course by visiting our contact us page. If you are a student, please have your professor or administration contact us.

I'd like to support the Learning by Giving Foundation's work. How can I make a donation?

To make a donation to the Learning by Giving Foundation or a course at one of our partner schools, please visit our Donate page and enter the size of your gift and your credit card information. If you would like to make a larger gift, please contact Ellie Mudge at ellie@learningbygivingfoundation.org.

Does the Learning by Giving Foundation make grants for anything other than philanthropy education programs?

The Foundation’s core mission is to support the teaching of philanthropy and nonprofit studies at the undergraduate level on college and university campuses nationwide. We have created an efficient platform for distributing capital to American communities that need it the most through experiential philanthropy education. We only make grants that fulfill our core mission.

Can my non-profit organization apply directly for a grant?

Please note that the Foundation only makes grants through our online courses, and the colleges & universities we partner with for our undergraduate courses. We do not make grants to individuals and cannot respond to such requests.

Please note that the Foundation only makes grants through our online courses, and the colleges & universities we partner with for our undergraduate courses. We do not make grants to individuals and cannot respond to such requests.